Cisco Systems Inc. is in the early stages of expanding its Orange County operations, according to the company and real estate sources.
Currently, the San Jose-based maker of networking gear has two facilities in University Research Park next to the University of California, Irvine. The 63,000- and 16,000-square-foot buildings house 340 employees working on digital subscriber line technology.
While details are fuzzy, Cisco said its new facility also is set to house DSL operations, according to company spokesman Derrick Meyer.
“We are looking at growing and expanding our presence in Orange County,” Meyer said. “We’re not sure if we’re expanding the present facility or building on the land around it.”
The Irvine Company, which owns half of University Research Park and leases the rest from UCI, declined to comment on Cisco’s expansion plans.
One real estate broker said Cisco could be looking for as much as 150,000 square feet of new space.
Between Irvine and Silicon Valley, Cisco already is the Irvine Co.’s largest tenant. Cisco leases more than 1 million square feet of space in 19 buildings at the Irvine Co.’s McCarthy Center in Milpitas.
With space in Silicon Valley at a premium, OC is an attractive site for Cisco and other Northern California tech companies, according to real estate executives.
“We expect to see an influx of Bay area companies moving to Orange County into low-rise campus environments,” said Russell J. Parker, a principal with Parker Properties LP. “Compared to Northern California, housing and office rents are considerably less in Southern California, as are the traffic and congestion challenges.”
Parker said his company, developer of the Summit Office Campus in Aliso Viejo, has experienced the trend first-hand. While he declined to comment on Cisco, Parker said a number of Bay area companies have inquired about occupying space at the Summit.
“They appreciate the South Orange County location because there is room to expand and a highly skilled workforce already in place,” Parker said. n
